Editor’s note: following is an opinion submitted by 13 Westport residents.

We are parents of children who have been or are currently in the special education program in the Westport Public Schools, writing in support of Abby Tolan for the Board of Education.  Our kids are a diverse group, with a wide range of gifts and needs, and they are a significant group.  One in seven students in our district of 5,000 has an Individualized Education Plan.  We believe one in seven members of the Board of Education should be a special ed expert for the benefit of our students, as well as for the broader community.  

With increasing scrutiny of the cost of special ed services, it is vital to have an expert who can separate out measures that will lead to savings and better outcomes, like Effective School Solutions which has saved us thousands in outplacements and helped struggling students, from shortsighted cuts that will set our students back and cost us more.

Abby Tolan is our special ed expert on the board.  

Long before she served as chair of the Special Education PTA, Abby was an educator in New York City for typical and special ed students.  She was an innovator, working on new approaches and part of a team designing a new school with a grant from the Gates Foundation.

Abby stayed current on education developments in Westport as she raised her own children with learning differences.  She served with many of us on the special education PTA as member and chair, where she pushed the administration on improvements to our literacy program that benefitted all of our young readers and on staffing, among other issues.  And she was such a stalwart of the SpEd PTA support group, where she held the hands of families struggling to access the right services for their children, that she completed the advocate training course of Special Education Equity for Kids.

Abby believes that every child, not just those in special ed, deserves individualized support, compassion, and acceptance.  She also recognizes that many students are struggling without being identified, especially with ADHD and mental health challenges.  She is committed to continually identifying interventions that will help all students, especially as someone with her own ADHD superpowers.

One in seven BOE members being a special ed expert is not unprecedented.  Abby was appointed to the seat vacated by Dr. Christina Torres, a SpEd educator and administrator.  Let us carry on this new tradition and continue to serve all of Westport students with this invaluable expertise by voting for Abby Tolan for Board of Education.

Merrily Bodell
Bradley Street

Melissa Crouch Chang
Compo Road South

John Donoghue
North Ave.

Laura Franklin
Drumlin Road

Kate Frascella
Rayfield Road

Amy Gerberry
Hermit Lane

Jen Greely
Drumlin Road

Nataliya Lalor
Evergreen Parkway

Becky Martin
North Ave.
203-451-4399

Oliver Olanoff
Rachel Olanoff
Old Road

Lindsay O’Rourke
Treadwell

Alexandra Wachtel
Sturges Commons